I am now using Excel speadsheet to give an example of what is will look like.
Latest formatting -look at attached Excel file:
Jaguar XJ8 Major Repair & Safety Issues Format Master.xls




Model Years/Vin Range Effected 1998-2002 MY V8 XJ Series 812256-F41862 Source Jaguar TSB 303-68

Safety Issue Car goes into Restricted Performance called Limp Mode - One owner said" car has stalled at highway speeds and I was in fear of a major accident"

Repair Costs Range Low Range- $600 for both top Secondary Tensioners High Range -$10000 or more for new engine



Relevant Tagged Forum Posts Click on the Tag (search) that is in Bold here: Tag (this will due a search for a special tag attached to posts like this one)https://www.jaguarforums.com/forum/showthread.php?p=251608#post251608



Transmission - Fractured "Forward Drum" note term tranny used for transmission in this section to save space

 

You will probably have to save it as a .pdf file and then post. That will lock in the formatting.

 

Lookin good Jim
First thought though...Is there a way to make it easier to read, sort of at a glance info?
You must have spent quite some time going through various databases and posts etc Jim even to get this far.....much appreciated.

 

Type your statement, then highlight your 'text' first; use the INSERT LINK feature of the editor next, the text will then become blue and underlined as evidence of being linked.

 

I found a format on a webpage that I like to try to create using Excel. I found it by doing internet search using "2001 Jaguar XJ8 at a glance" . The format has topic bars with a click on button on each bar. When you click on the button it gives you a drop down with the detail information that open up right under the Topic.

It is on the www.carsdirect.com website. This webpage gives you 2001 XJ8 specs overall by Trim level (Base, L, Vanden Plas, Vanden Plas Supercharged). All the vertical Topic Bars has a button area to click on. Each Bar has a title (Powertrain button bring up a drop down lists showing info on Engine, Transmission,etc).

Have a look. Here is the webpage link:http://www.carsdirect.com/research/s...61C0&year=2001

Let me know what you think about it.

 

Looks like I have created an Excel application that has some working buttons.

Starts with the "Issues at a Glance" that has a brief summary infomation about the issues.

Each issue has a button that brings you to the "Requested Information" View.

This view gives you more details about the issue (also it has buttons that brings you to):

Relevant Posts on the Forum (uses hyperlink to the post's webpage)
DIY Posts on the Forum (uses hyperlink to the post's webpage)
A Return to the "Issues at a Glance" (to choose another issue to look at).

The only two button on the "Issues at a Glance" that I have working properly are the "Tensioners" button and the "Forward Drum" button .

I have not added any code for the other buttons listed there.

Here is the latest revision Excel Workbook file:

Jaguar XJ8 Major Repair & Safety Issues User View.xls

Screen Shots:

http://www.4shared.com/photo/w_Cx6PT..._a_glance.html
http://www.4shared.com/photo/L9ZWcaK6/Tenioners.html
http://www.4shared.com/photo/d_3EPGFe/Forward_Drum.html

Let me know if you have any suggestions about the formats and the use of the buttons.

I will probably be adding more buttons to access a few more Summary details on the forum.

Then we will have to get the best information we can find about the issues and present them in this application.

This has been a learning experience for me. I have a lot of knowledge on how to use Excel and some use of the macros.

But I only have a only a little understanding of the Visual Basic Application code that I am using to create the "Issues" application.

 

Jim,

I like where you are going with this. One thought I had is on your section with the transmission, this is one of the major areas that the XJ8 and XJR differ significantly. The should probably be some sort of section heading that separates the ZF from the Merc models as their issues are very different.

 

Hey MidlifeXJR
I took your suggestion and added Section Headings that define the models (or the model if XJ8 and XJR have different componets such as Transmission ZF5HP24 versus W5A580). Section Headings such Engine issues for XJ8 & XJR , Transmission issues for XJ8, Transmission issues for XJR, etc. We still have to identify all the major issues and add them to this application.

I revised the format to show the Section Headings - Here are the Screen snapshots:




Here is the updated Excel application:

Jaguar XJ8 Major Repair & Safety Issues User View.xls

 

Hi Jim,
firstly, let me say thank you for all the man hours to date you've put into this...its appreciated, and if we can make it work, fine tune it etc etc, who knows, we may be able to adopt throughout?

As a mark of all the time n effort you've spent to date, I'm going to make this sticky so that it will stay in focus and at the top of the pile for better views hopfully.

Its looking good to date Jim, however the buttons don't work for me? I get a macro message......Perhaps Excel isn't the best format, you may be right....possibly someone with more program type of knowledge etc can assist in some way?

Again the basic idea and info input is excellent though....

 

Hi JimC64
I went through all the buttons in the application. They are working now. We still have to develop information for any XJR Transmission Issues. I have 3 buttons that are connected to a webpages that are not related to the requested Issue. I have not researched these Issues yet. I have made a notation next to each one of them.

Please note that you need to use the "Return to Summary" Button
after you are finished viewing Topics on the "Requested
information" Screen. The Return Button will bring back to the "At a
Glance" Screen.

Version of Application as 10/30/10 9:20 Cheshire CT time:

Jaguar XJ8 Major Repair & Safety Issues User View.xls

Let me know if you have any problems using it.

 

Very nice work.

Now that it's a sticky would you consider re-naming this thread? For the layman searching the web for XJ8 or XJR info and finding a sticky post that says "Summary of Major Safety and Repair Issues" sounds intimidating.

Intimidating the general public with onerous sounding information will do nothing to help the resale values of our vehicles.

Without a good market for these vehicles the book values fall off a cliff. You might ask, why should we care? The answer is, book value determines the settlement on an insurance claim in the event of a total loss.

Having dealt with the insurance companies in the past on a total loss I can assure you that book value is the bible when it comes to settling a claim. In todays environment of mindless button pushers, it's more true than ever.

Normally I'm not a politically correct kind of guy but in this case I think it would be in the best interest of all XJ8 owners to lighten up the title. How about something like, "Typical repairs on 1998-2002 XJ8 and XJR"....

Ken Wolkens

 

I am not happy using the excel software for this application. The last 2 days I have been using HTML code to create this application for use on a a website. I think I can use my email provider server. *** communication allow each email customer 10 megs of space per email account. I am finally teaching myself how to code in html and css. There are a lot of online tutorials and examples. Also I pickup a lot of code examples by looking at the view source of various webpages.
The htlm gives a lot more choices in formats, tables, buttons, dropdowns, etc.
Now I have the basic format completed with headings, tables and working buttons. The rest will be just a little time consuming, but not as difficult because I understand a lot more than I did when I started.

 

Guys, anyone that can offer any help at all towards Jim would be appreciated.

This in the form of "the top 10 problem areas" for example as he's creating something along those lines at present. Also and help with any technical info / constructive advice and or suggestions would be greatly received.

I believe to date that he's spent many hours trying to move forward with this, mostly on his own, for something that I believe will certainly help the site to improve its information.

how this information is presented and how it will be added to the forum is still to be determined.
If you can help, great, I'm sure Jim will be very appreciative.

Thanks

Jim

 

I tried to access the xls file an it says i dont have sufficient privlages. Do you have to be registered here for a certain amount of time to see the file?



Upgraded to Full forum access Jowens............................

 

I am now in the process of completing a website on my *** personal webspace on the internet.

The information on this website will hopefully be adopted in some form and might be relocated to a place on the forum file server.

The "At a Glance" is the first webpage and it has Summary information and buttons to the other 6 webpages. The other webpages have more information about the issue and also has a number of drop down menus.

I have fully completed only one of the other webpages (Secondary Tensioners). This the only one that has the dropdown menus on it.

I will add the dropdown menus on the other 5 webpages as time permits.

You need to scroll all the way down the webpage to be able to see all the items listed in some of the menu drop downs (title) when you put your mouse pointer on the menu title.

The drop down menus has a list of information references. The information reference item is connected to a website link. When you click on the information reference item, another website is opened to the associated post or article.

I did a whole bunch of searches to locate and add the menu items that are on this webpage.

Please send me your comments and suggestions. Also any other items that you might want added or changed.

Here is the website address:
http://members.***.net/jimlombardi/index.html

Jim Lombardi

 

I am creating PDF files on articles that are on other websites. I am also creating PDF files that could be used in place of the internet webpages that I am currently using for this system. These system PDF files will be linked to each other and also linked to the associated PDF article files.

I decided that instead of having 7 linked PDF files (each one representing the each of the existing webpages) that it is going to be easier to 1 Summary PDF file. The 7 PDF are now combined into 1 Summary PDF file with 7 pages in it (each page represents one of the PDF files). I still have to add all the forum post links to the various drop down menus. Therefore this is still a work in process until I finish with the links and add more content to these PDF pages.
Jag Major Items Summary.pdf

 

Thanks for the update and keeping us in the loop Jim

 

While individual post are probably not copy protected, the other web sites may have such protection from copying and linking. That is why we have tried, but not 100% successfully, to keep the FAQ links within the JaguarForums site.

 

Well, I think I have a PDF file that works with buttons that link to forum threads and other PDF files (Articles from other internet sites that I converted to PDFs).

Here are the PDF files that are opened by the "At a Glance" PDF file:
www.jcna.com-library-tech-tech0028.html.pdf
Jaguar V8 Secondary Tensioners - Preventive Replacement.pdf
www.carsurvey.org-reviews-jaguar-xj8-r49451-comments-page-4.pdf
Piston Heads Article for the XJ8_Tensioners.pdf
Piston Heads Article for the XJ8_TB.pdf

Here is the "AT a Glance" PDF file:
XJ8_Summary_At-a-Glance .pdf

Well looks like I had good luck this evening. I only had to change the link addresses for the 5 PDF files that are in the "AT a Galance" PDF.
I have links on all the Summary pages within the master PDF file and they are all working properly, except there are no links for the XJR TCM Summary (for this I need to do some more searching in this forum and other internet sites).

To Jim C
I think the use of this PDF file format works well and its format (PDF) fits well within the forum file structure.

Everone try running the "AT a Glance" PDF file and give some feedback about how it works and its format.
Jim Lombardi

I have been using an online file to PDF conversion program to create these PDF files with links attached to them (source files are mostly my HTML files).

I also have Adobe Pro version 9 (I had to use it to fix and edit the created PDF files). The Adobe Pro software is not an easy piece of software to learn without having any help files and not much infomation on the internet about it. Just a lot of effort using the try this then try that method (not very friendly).

 

The master PDF file was overlaying the opened window in the internet browser with the webpage that was requested.
This new master PDF file code has been changed to open a new window for each request.

Here is the new master PDF file:
XJ8_Summary_At-a-Glance test .pdf

I will be looking into trying to open a new tab in the internet browser when a new request is made from the PDF file.

Here is the test file to try to open a new tab:
XJ8_Summary_At-a-Glance test2 .pdf

This test2 file opens a new tab in FireFox browser and in Internet Explorer 7 browser on my wife's computer (her computer has Acrobat reader 8). On my computer (Acrobat reader 9 and Acrobat pro 9), test2 file opens a new tab in FireFox browser but not in Internet Explorer 8 browser (opens a new window on first request, then any other requests will replace what is in the new window).

Looks like a lot of changes may need to be made in the settings of the various pieces of software that are on the user's computer (acrobat reader preferences, Internet Explorer options) also the version of the software (internet explorer 7 or 8, acrobat reader or pro version 8 or 9).

Try using Internet Explorer first to see if it uses the window tabs for test2 PDF requests. If it displays the webpages in a new window and this is not acceptable for you, then you should try using the Firefox browser to view the webpages in the window tabs.

XJ8_Summary_At-a-Glance test2form .pdf
Jaguar V8 Secondary Tensioners - Preventive Replacement form.pdf
www.carsurvey.org-reviews-jaguar-xj8-r49451-comments-page-4.pdf